Five Talking Points: Azkals hold the Mighty Taeguk Warriors to just one goal

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Before the match has started, pundits and aficionados alike already marked the Philippines out against South Korea, even saying we will lose by as much as five goals. Now they made everyone think about what they said as well as instil a bit of fear to the enemy’s head.

With a squad full of talent, skills, speed and intelligence, it was easy to say that the Korea Republic were supposed to do some rampage past the lowly Philippines. However, it took 67 minutes for the Reds to score a goal which meant they had to sweat it out and hope that luck will finally come.

We look at the five talking points of what transpired last night against the Taeguk Warriors:

 

1) First match in the continental championships turned some heads

After three straight defeats at the hands of AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 champions and Asian Cup group D contenders Vietnam, it seemed like we will just be a walk in the park for the Koreans and the Chinese. That’s what everybody in Southeast Asia thought until last night’s match happened.

Despite all of the efforts of the Taeguk Warriors to score right from the get-go, they only managed to score one goal and it came in an unconventional way. A scuffle inside the box saw the ball passing through Alvaro Silva’s legs and into the path of Hwang Ui-Jo who then slotted it past a kneeling Michael Falkesgaard.

Even if the Koreans finally broke the deadlock, it never dampened the morale of the squad as they still went searching for the equalizer but the Taeguk Warriors were just a tad better than the Azkals. Holding the ranked 56 nation in the world scoreless for more than 45 minutes was a great achievement for the men in white as it already proved they have a formidable defence.

 

2) Opting for more defence didn’t hurt as it seemed

Indeed that goal was coming but what the others did not saw is how the defence of the Azkals looked so organized. Coming into the match, Sven Goran-Eriksson has opted to go for a 5-4-1 formation which meant more manpower in defence. Knowing that the Korea Republic will make blitz run from the sides as well as murder them from the middle of the park, it was an almost perfect formation to prevent these stuff from happening.

It also allowed the Azkals to catch the Koreans in the counter. As evident as it was in the early stages of the match, the Koreans overloaded the final third of the Azkals giving a lot of spaces up front. On the 40th minute, we saw a glimpse of it as Daisuke Sato intercepted the ball in the middle of the field who then made a run towards the goal. He saw Javier Patino running down the wings, crossed the ball which was met by a first-time volley but Patigol’s attempt bounced towards the palm of the keeper.

We saw another counter-attack in the second half were Patino was running with Manny Ott and Patrick Reichelt. Patino had two options, pass the ball to Kiki who can slot it past the keeper or make a goal for himself. He did the second option which saw his shot gathered by Kim Seung-Gyu.

Though we clogged our defence too much, it didn’t really hurt our attack as it was the perfect opportunity for the Azkals to catch the streaky Koreans through the counter. It did not materialize but it really brought a lot of attention and hopes for the nation hungry for a win in their debut for the tournament.

 

3) Stephan Schrock played more like a premier league player than Ki Sung-Yueng

Yes, that’s a bit unbelievable but not only did we saw it, but other pundits or scribe also rated Schrock better than his opposite number. The Newcastle United midfielder didn’t really put too much impact into the match probably because of a tight defence assigned to him or it was not just his night to shine.

“We surprised everyone, I think, with the performance,” Schrock told the-AFC.com. Truly they did raise some eyebrows especially with how he played last night. He was work-horse in defence and a tremendous threat in attack.

 

4) Alvaro Silva was a brick wall in defence

It didn’t seem that Alvaro Silva is the oldest player for the Azkals in the Asian Cup. From the looks of it, Silva played like a 23-year-old defender who just wants to haul himself towards the opposition and prevent them from scoring. It might’ve been a scuffle from his side that led to the goal but that was not just enough to judge him poorly of his performance against the Taeguk Warriors.

He even went up in the dying minutes of the match to try and get the equalizer but his header just went off-target. Still, it was a stellar performance for the 34-year-old centerback.

If he can provide such performance against China and Kyrgyzstan, the dreams of making it to the round of 16 for their first stint in the AFC Asian Cup are just as close as a step towards great success.

 

5) UAE served as home for the Azkals

With more than half a million Filipinos either living or working in the United Arab Emirates and around 450,000 of them residing in Dubai, it was easy to say that Al Maktoum Stadium will be a cauldron of Filipinos supporting the Philippines Azkals. Indeed it felt like it as they drowned the Korea supporters’ chant of Daehan Minguk to their own tune of Pilipinas Malupet.

With the fans singing their hearts out it already felt like a home game for the Philippine Azkals whose performance relied mostly on defence and of course, the support of their Kababayans watching all around the world. In times like this, it really brings the Filipino Pride out for all of us and connects each and everyone regardless of their status and their beliefs.

 

Photo (c) The Azkals Facebook Page

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